Please note that your review assignment is due on 11/17, but the draft is due 11/12. We will be having conferences that day and for the next three days online in groups. You will be responsible for signing in to a chat room and we will conference that way. Please come prepared to these chats with at least three questions about your draft.
Review Assignment
Please bring your books with you to class during this assignment and during the argument assignment as well. I didn't like the treatment of the Commentary in the books that much (I thought I could do better :)) but I like the way that the author's handle the review material.For Thursday, look me up on Rate my Professor, and read the chapter in ACW on Reviews.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Office Hours (NOT class!)
We will be having class as usual today, but I wanted to let you know that I have to cancel my office hours today because I am substituting for another teaching during that time. I'll be back to regularly scheduled hours on Tuesday from 10:30-11:30.
J Moody
J Moody
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Citing Sources
For this paper, we will be doing informal citations. For the argument paper, I will be VERY concerned with your research accuracy and your citation format, but for this paper I'm more concerned with the accuracy of your research than I am the format of your citations.
The general rule is that if most people don't know this information (general knowledge), you have to cite where you found it. So anything that you learned for this commentary, like information on skateboarding at UCF, how many students go here, or results from your interview with fellow students, has to be cited.
For the interview, use the following information:
Lastname, Firstname. "Personal Interview on xxxx (date)." When you refer to the person's interview in your paragraph, for instance to say that your partner thought that skateboarding was equally dangerous, you could say something like "According to Shelly Larson, who was run over by a skateboarder as she headed to class, skateboarding should be totally outlawed on campus." And then you cite the source on a separate works cited page.
For newspaper or magazine information, in the commentary itself, reference it like this: "In a recent Newsweek article, skateboarding was the number one cause of fatalities on campus." and in your works cited page, list the article like this:
Author's last name, Author's First Initial (if the author's name is listed). "Title of the Article." Newsweek. May 7, 2009. (23-29 (page numbers)).
For a website, in the commentary, say something like "On cancer.gov, the leading cause of lung cancer is listed as smoking." and in your works cited page, you would post a link to the actual page where you found the information, as well as the date you accessed the page.
If you have any questions about citing a source, as well as whether you need to cite a source, please ask in class on Thursday, as most of the class needs to know as well.
In the Lunsford book use the MLA format section for information on how to set up the works cited page (you can also find information on how to set up all of the citations here as well).
The general rule is that if most people don't know this information (general knowledge), you have to cite where you found it. So anything that you learned for this commentary, like information on skateboarding at UCF, how many students go here, or results from your interview with fellow students, has to be cited.
For the interview, use the following information:
Lastname, Firstname. "Personal Interview on xxxx (date)." When you refer to the person's interview in your paragraph, for instance to say that your partner thought that skateboarding was equally dangerous, you could say something like "According to Shelly Larson, who was run over by a skateboarder as she headed to class, skateboarding should be totally outlawed on campus." And then you cite the source on a separate works cited page.
For newspaper or magazine information, in the commentary itself, reference it like this: "In a recent Newsweek article, skateboarding was the number one cause of fatalities on campus." and in your works cited page, list the article like this:
Author's last name, Author's First Initial (if the author's name is listed). "Title of the Article." Newsweek. May 7, 2009. (23-29 (page numbers)).
For a website, in the commentary, say something like "On cancer.gov, the leading cause of lung cancer is listed as smoking." and in your works cited page, you would post a link to the actual page where you found the information, as well as the date you accessed the page.
If you have any questions about citing a source, as well as whether you need to cite a source, please ask in class on Thursday, as most of the class needs to know as well.
In the Lunsford book use the MLA format section for information on how to set up the works cited page (you can also find information on how to set up all of the citations here as well).
For Thursday (10/15)
Draft the thesis paragraph for your commentary. This doesn't necessarily have to be the first paragraph, but it should be the paragraph which contains the thesis. Remember the following criteria for your thesis statement:
- Satisfactory thesis statements offer an observation of a trend or situation.
- Strong thesis statements offer some insight into what the trend or situation signifies.
- Outstanding thesis statements offer a qualified and thought-out insight into what a trend or situation signifies.
This thesis paragraph is due Thursday at the beginning of class. Make sure that you read my blog post on citing sources as well for Thursday's class.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Analyzing a commentary
Using either "The Hypocrisy Bowl" or "Metrosexual Matrimony," (links are below in the commentary assignment section) analyze the commentary using the following questions. This should be done in a small group of 2-3, and should be put on one person's blog. You can either use your laptop or your group can go to the computer lab if you're quiet. We will meet back here at the predetermined time so that we can go over your answers in class.
1. What is the trend or situation on which the commentary focuses?
2. Does the author give the reader an interesting introduction to the issue? Why or why not?
3. Does the author explain the context of the issue? How in-depth does he or she go? What do you think this signifies regarding the intended audience of the commentary?
4. What are the possible causes of the trend or situation the author explores?
5. What examples or observations does the author give to back their belief that these are the possible causes?
6. What is the author's stance on the topic?
7. What significance does the author see in this trend or situation?
Please phrase your answers in complete sentences. This exercise will be worth 50 points, so please make sure to put all of your group member's names on here!
J Moody
1. What is the trend or situation on which the commentary focuses?
2. Does the author give the reader an interesting introduction to the issue? Why or why not?
3. Does the author explain the context of the issue? How in-depth does he or she go? What do you think this signifies regarding the intended audience of the commentary?
4. What are the possible causes of the trend or situation the author explores?
5. What examples or observations does the author give to back their belief that these are the possible causes?
6. What is the author's stance on the topic?
7. What significance does the author see in this trend or situation?
Please phrase your answers in complete sentences. This exercise will be worth 50 points, so please make sure to put all of your group member's names on here!
J Moody
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Tuesday 10/6/09 - What you should be doing now...
Post the 10 questions and the interview answers from today in class (if you didn't come to class today, e-mail me and I'll send you an overview of what we did).
Post your letter to your friend (see the commentary assignment #3 - it was due today but I extended the assignment till Thursday). The purpose of this letter is to inform someone who doesn't go to UCF about your issue so that you get a chance to articulate it to an outside party. This helps you think about the issue from someone else's perspective. It doesn't have to be typed and double spaced - that was only for turning the assignment in in class and I decided to have you turn it in on your blog instead.
Read the two articles listed below the commentary assignment (The Hypocrisy Bowl and Metrosexual Matrimony) and think about how they are arranged and how the authors got the background information to write them. We'll talk about them in class on Thursday.
Post your letter to your friend (see the commentary assignment #3 - it was due today but I extended the assignment till Thursday). The purpose of this letter is to inform someone who doesn't go to UCF about your issue so that you get a chance to articulate it to an outside party. This helps you think about the issue from someone else's perspective. It doesn't have to be typed and double spaced - that was only for turning the assignment in in class and I decided to have you turn it in on your blog instead.
Read the two articles listed below the commentary assignment (The Hypocrisy Bowl and Metrosexual Matrimony) and think about how they are arranged and how the authors got the background information to write them. We'll talk about them in class on Thursday.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Your assignment for Thursday, October 1
Remember that you are supposed to post three ideas for your commentary that relate to issues here at UCF.
Then I would like you to take one of those issues and develop it a bit. Write about 250 words about that issue - Following prompt #2 from your assignment. Think about your issue, and observe the atmosphere around the issue. Think about the context of the issue - how did we get to this point?
As you observe, record the sensory details of the phenomenon/trend, as well as the spatial/contextual perimeters. How does it look and feel to you? Consider what it reminds you of, literally and figuratively. How is it like or unlike other things you’ve experienced? Note how others react to it. Are there differences between your response and others’ responses? What significance does it have for you? What significance does it seem to have for them?
Then I would like you to take one of those issues and develop it a bit. Write about 250 words about that issue - Following prompt #2 from your assignment. Think about your issue, and observe the atmosphere around the issue. Think about the context of the issue - how did we get to this point?
As you observe, record the sensory details of the phenomenon/trend, as well as the spatial/contextual perimeters. How does it look and feel to you? Consider what it reminds you of, literally and figuratively. How is it like or unlike other things you’ve experienced? Note how others react to it. Are there differences between your response and others’ responses? What significance does it have for you? What significance does it seem to have for them?
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